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This race, first run in 1861 as the Prix de Longchamp, became the Prix Hocquart in 1885 in tribute to one the French horse racing’s leading figures. It became one of the five "poules des produits" races (see explanation in the Prix Noailles) and was open to produce out of mares covered by stallions born and bred in France."

The race was initially run over 1 mile 4½ furlongs but was reduced to a mile and a half in 1902, the distance of the Prix du Jockey Club. It was traditionally run over this distance, except on the seven occasions mentioned below. The Prix Hocquart was not run in 1871, 1914-1919 or 1940 due to war. The race was held at Tremblay over 1 mile 3½ furlongs in 1943, 1944 and 1945, and at Chantilly over 1 mile 3 furlongs from 1997 to 2000. In 2005, following the reorganisation of the three-year-old classic season, the race distance was reduced by a further half a furlong and is now run on a Monday instead of a Sunday. Since 2010, it has once again been run on a Sunday. Record time: over 1 mile 3 furlongs: 2’ 15’’ 20/100 by Démocrate in 2008; over 1m 4f: 2' 28'' 30/100 by Sadjiyd in 1987. The race will be held for the 147th time in 2014.

The Hocquart family. The Societe d'Encouragement paid tribute to the recently deceased Comte Louis Hocquart de Turtot (1823-1884) by naming the Prix de Longchamp after him in 1885. After serving in the army as an artillery captain, he was elected as a joint member to the board of French horseracing in 1861 before being named a founder member in 1876. In 1872 he was appointed steward, a post he held until his death in 1884. He was also one of the four head stewards of the Deauville Racecourse Association (now an independent body), which was created in 1864, and was also named its president. As a result, he gave his name to one of the roads close to Deauville Racecourse.

Two other members of his family, his father Edouard and his nephew Antoine, also figure in the history of the Société d'Encouragement.

Comte Edouard Hocquart (1792-1852), a chamberlain to the kings Louis XVIII and Charles X, and the owner of a large stud farm in Valmont in the Seine Inferieure region, was named a founder member of the board in 1836, replacing Lord Henry Seymour, who resigned his post.

ComteAntoine Hocquart de Turtot (1872-1954), a former cavalry officer and the brother-in-law of James Hennessy, was elected to the board of the Société d'Encouragement in 1921. Appointed a steward on the same day, he became head steward in 1928, a post he would hold for 20 years along with that of president of the National Racecourse Federation. Only one member of the Societe d'Encouragement has held the position of head steward for a longer period of time: Baron de La Rochette from 1849 to 1889. On 30 November 1948, Comte Antoine succeeded the Marquis de Ganay as the president of the Societe d'Encouragement, a position he held until 1 December 1950 when he was forced to step down due to ill health. He remained on the board until his death on 15 January 1954, aged 83.

The main innovations in which Comte Hocquart de Turtot played a decisive role were as follows: the installation of the electric tote board at Longchamp in 1928 (a move that was initially criticised and then welcomed as a labour-saving innovation); the introduction of handicaps for two year-olds in 1930; the creation in 1931 of a race for two year-olds prior to the customary opening of the two-year-old race season in summer; the introduction of the Tote in 1931, considered by many at the time as an impossible dream; sponsored races in 1933; "Nuits de Longchamp" (night racing at Longchamp) from 1934 to 1939; and the National Lottery sweepstake in 1935.

These measures were implemented to ameliorate the impact of the economic crisis, but with the advent of the Second World War, the management of racecourses became an even more difficult proposition. The numerous problems facing Comte Hocquart de Turtot during the Occupation included keeping Paris’s main racecourses open, transporting horses and supplying them with food at the stables, and preventing horses from being sent away, tasks that he managed to carry out successfully, albeit in very trying circumstances. As the head steward, it was his duty to explain the reasons behind an historic decision taken by the board of the Société d'Encouragement on 25 October 1946: the opening of all French courses to foreign horses, a decision made "in the light of the resounding and repeated victories of French horses in England."

Horses winning the Prix Hocquart have also finished either second or third in the Prix du Jockey Club on fourteen occasions. The nine horses who came second were Saint Cyr (1875), Farfadet (1883), Saint Gall (1888), Beaugency (1969), Frere Basile (1978), Le Marmot (1979), Dancehall (1989), Lord Flashheart (2000) and Hurricane Run (2005); and the five third places were claimed by Pandour (1869), Stathouder (1878), Roitelet (1895), Hern the Hunter (1942) and Coroner (2003).

Fillies and the Prix Hocquart.Up until the First World War it was not unusual to see fillies lining up in the Prix Hocquart, eight of them going on to win the race: Villafranca (1863), Victorieuse (1866), Filoselle (1876), Versigny (1880), Serpolette II (1881), Orange Blossom (1904), Brienne (1905) and My Star (1910). Three of them, Victorieuse, Versigny and Serpolette II, also won the Prix de Diane Longines.

Although the race has always been open to them, over the years fillies have been more notable by their absence, the last of them to claim a top-three finish being Crudite, who came home third in 1935 before claiming the Grand Prix de Paris three weeks later.

* Poil de Chameau won the 1974 race in the colours of the Baronness Guy de Rothschild. ** L'Amiral won in 1950 in the colours of Mme Leon Volterra. *** Bishop's Rock claimed victory in 1932 in the colours of Ralph. B. Strassburger.